Jail Break, known in Japan as Manhattan 24 Bunsho (マンハッタン24分署? lit. "Manhattan 24th Precinct"), is an action shooter video game developed and published by Konami on arcade platforms released in 1986.
Plot[]
A mass prison breakout has occurred and the prisoners have escaped. They have captured the prison warden and are creating havoc in the town. The player, a police officer, has the duty to restore order and kill or capture and bring back the prisoners to jail and rescue the prison warden.
Gameplay[]
A 2.5D side scrolling shooter video game where the player controls a cop on foot. The objective of the game is to kill the numerous escaped prisoners along the way while rescuing civilians to earn points. There are two main types of enemies in the game; the ones wearing black and white stripped prisoner pants attack by tossing molotov cocktails at the player, while the ones wearing red and white stripped pants carry a gun and can shoot fast traveling projectiles. The game is comprised of five stages: the street, a park, the harbor, the bridge, and finally inside the jail.
To accomplish his duty, the cop starts off with a pistol, but can acquire two other weapons: a bazooka and a tear gas gun. The pistol can only fire small bullets straightforward, but can shoot rapidly and many projectiles can be onscreen at a time, making it great for most types of situations. The bazooka fires a slower but larger projectile that can penetrate lines of enemies. While only one projectile can be onscreen at a time, it can kill many enemies at once, making it great for dealing with ambushes and enemy formations. Additionally, it is the only weapon that can destroy harder obstacles, like metal cans and oncoming enemy vans. The tear gas gun fires capsules filled with tear gas that travel a little faster than the bazooka's shot and three projectiles can be onscreen at a time. By tilting the direction a little, it can emulate a slight spreading behavior. It is the only weapon that can kill enemies peeking from building windows.
Weapons are obtained by rescuing civilians. These include a crying boy calling for his mom (2,000 pts.), a manacled blond man in overalls (500 pts.), and a woman running with a baby in her arms (1,000 pts.). If a civilian is unintentionally killed by the player, they will lose the chance to acquire their weapon.
Ports[]
The game was ported on Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. A MSX version was advertised but was never released. It was later included as part of the Game Room service for Windows and Xbox 360 in July 28, 2010. The game was also included as part of the Arcade Archives on September 14, 2023 for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
Gallery[]
Packaging artwork[]
Screenshots[]
(arcade)
(arcade)
Promotional artwork[]
(front)
(back)
Trivia[]
- When shooting prisoners peeking from building windows with the tear gas gun, some will transform into naked women.
- Batman makes a cameo in the game (worth 5,000 points) by destroying certain hard obstacles with the bazooka, like metal cans. Interestingly, Batman was one of the licensed franchises Konami developed games for, although that was several years after the release of Jail Break.
- Donn Nauert holds the official record for this game with 185,900 points.
External links[]
- GameFAQs
- MobyGames
- Jail Break [Model GX507] at Gaming History